1994 FIFA World Cup

The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, held in nine cities across the United States from 17 June to 17 July 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on 4 July 1988. Despite the host nation's lack of a national top-level soccer league, the tournament broke the World Cup average attendance record with nearly 69,000 spectators per game, a mark that still stands today. The total attendance of nearly 3.6million for the final tournament remains the highest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams (and from 52 to 64 games) in the 1998 World Cup.

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 147 teams entered the 1994 FIFA World Cupqualification rounds, competing for 22 of the total 24 spots in the final tournament. The United States, as the hosts, and Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically. The draw was made in New York on 8 December 1991.

For the first time, 3 teams would qualify from the African zone, due to the performance of African teams in the previous tournament. The 24 spots available in the 1994 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

Europe (UEFA): 13 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Germany, while the other 12 places were contested by 38 teams (including Israel).

South America (CONMEBOL): 3.5 places, contested by 9 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from CONCACAF or OFC).

North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2.25 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier United States, while the other 1.25 places were contested by 22 teams. The winner of the 0.25 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from OFC).

1994 FIFA World Cup Group F

Group F of the 1994 FIFA World Cup was one of six groups of four teams competing at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. The first match was played 19 June 1994 and the final games took place simultaneously on 29 June 1994.

The group consisted of Belgium, Morocco, Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. Netherlands won the group, Saudi Arabia finished second and Belgium qualified as one of the best third-placed teams.